mēnā / mehemea
Conditional Clauses
Mēnā and mehemea introduce conditions.
How It Works
Mēnā and mehemea introduce conditions. A following he predicate can classify or describe a participant. The consequence is formed separately: it may state a result or recommend a response with me. These openings have no person or number endings.
Compare He pouaka taumaha tēnei, “This is a heavy box,” with Mehemea he pouaka taumaha tēnei, “If this is a heavy box.” The latter makes the description conditional. Other supported patterns involve ka and kua; time, aspect, and context determine their interpretation.
Preserve both macrons in mēnā. Neither opening by itself makes every condition counterfactual.
Examples (3)
- Mehemea he kaiako koe, he mea nui te reo.
If you are a teacher, the language is important.
A classification supplies the condition.
- Mēnā he whare nui tēnā, he nui te utu.
If that is a large house, the price is high.
Both parts use nominal predicates.
- Mehemea he pouaka taumaha tēnei, me tūpato tāua.
If this is a heavy box, we two should be careful.
The condition leads to advice for speaker and addressee.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Place a familiar he predicate after mēnā or mehemea and form its consequence separately. Preserve mēnā's two macrons and introduce these as conditional openings whose wider time and aspect choices depend on the intended situation.
- he + descriptive phraseDescribing What Someone Is
The accepted examples make familiar classifications and descriptions conditional after mēnā or mehemea.
Level 1 - me + verbWhat Someone Should Do
A recommendation supplies the response to the heavy-box condition without reporting that the response occurred.
Level 2
Related Patterns
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
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